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On May 22nd, Paul and Linda McCartney’s Ram will be re-released in grand style,and MOKB is helping get you into the spirit with a premiere of the remastered version of Too Many People.

But wait, there’s more. One lucky MOKB follower will get themselves a beautifully packaged Deluxe Edition Box Set right in time for the record’s 40th anniversary!

Ram, the only album to be credited to both Paul and Linda McCartney and Paul’s second post-Beatles LP, is now widely considered a classic, but truth be told, critics didn’t exactly sit up on their hinders to applaud when it originally dropped in May of 1971. In fact, some folks were downright nasty in their appraisal of Paul and Linda’s handiwork. Rolling Stone’s Jon Landau called it, “the nadir in the decomposition of Sixties rock thus far,” further adding “incredibly inconsequential and so monumentally irrelevant,” to his assessment while Playboy’s music critic (who knew, right?) offered, “you keep wondering why he bothers.” Even his ex-bandmates got in on the lambasting. John Lennon reported hated the album and dissed Paul’s efforts as “muzak to my ears” in How Do You Sleep?, while Ringo offered, “I don’t think there’s one [good] tune on the last one, Ram … he seems to be going strange” in Melody Maker.

Of course, that didn’t stop fans from dropping some of their hard-earned, as the album topped the charts hitting #1 in the UK and #2 in the US.

Ah, but how times and opinions change. At some point in the ensuing decades, Rolling Stone’s stance softened, and the original review was revised to four out of five stars. Clearly, folded in the records seemingly carefree grooves and singalongs one can sense the early ramshackle shimmer of something flying quite in the face of the bombast of 60s rawk. In fact, our buddy Stephen Thomas Erlewine suggests, in retrospect, Ram, “looks like nothing so much as the first indie pop album, a record that celebrates small pleasures with big melodies, a record that’s guileless and unembarrassed to be cutesy.”

Ram was written by Paul and Linda, mostly at their Scottish farm on the Mull of Kintyre. In autumn of 1970 they flew to NYC to assemble a band and begin recording. Enlisting the help of future Wings drummer Denny Seiwell, as well as guitarists David Spinozza and Hugh McCracken, the album was completed in early 1971 along with non-album tracks Another Day and Oh Woman, Oh Why.

Interestingly, Ram was also issued in mono with alternate mixes, which were only made available to radio stations at the time, and this version has gone on to become one of the most sought after McCartney collectables. Furthermore, 1977 witnessed the release of Thrillington, an instrumental exploration of Ram. Originally recorded in 1971 at Abbey Road Studios and arranged by Richard Hewson, it was released under the pseudonym Percy ‘Thrills’ Thrillington, an unknown eccentric socialite who often cropped up in mysterious newspaper classifieds. In reality, of course, Percy was a character devised by Paul and Linda simply to have some fun, and the concept of doing an orchestral album was an ambition long held by Paul.

Ram Deluxe Edition Box Set Giveaway : MOKB has scored one Ram Deluxe Edition Box Set, and believe me kiddies, this is some sweet swag. How sweet? How about 4 CDs (including the album in stereo and mono format, the Thrillington CD and an outtakes CD, all remastered by the same team who recently remastered the complete Beatles’ catalogue), a DVD, 112 page book, 5 prints in vintage style photographic wallet, 8 full size facsimiles of Paul’s original handwritten lyric sheets and mini photographic book of outtakes from the original album cover photo shoot. One very lucky MOKB reader will be taking this home. If you want to qualify, you need to follow @myoldkyblog on Twitter and tweet us your favorite Paul McCartney song (Beatles, Wings or solo) by Friday, May 11th. The winner will be chosen at random, but anyone who selects Say, Say, Say will automatically be disqualified.

If the Fab Four were around today, you can be sure that George Harrison would be the one with the primo side project. Yeah, Rocky may have played second fiddle to his Liverpool mates back in the day, but America’s premiere filmmaker, Martin Scorsese, is among those who believe that Georgie deserves a long second look. To that end, he waded back into the music doc pool and fished up George Harrison: Living In The Material World, a choice cinematic look at The Quiet One’s life and music that will be getting its proper DVD release on May 1st. Circle that May 1st date, because May Day will also witness the release of some previously unreleased George Harrison music, Early Takes Volume 1.

Of course, I’m telling you this, not only because I think you might be interested, but because MOKB is in the business of hooking you up.

George Harrison Living in the Material World CD + DVD Giveaway: One lucky MOKB follower is going to land themselves a George Harrison double-whammy: George Harrison: Living In The Material World on DVD along with a copy of Early Takes Volume 1. Whatta deal, right? One slight catch, though. If you want to qualify, you need to LIKE the new MOKB page on Facebook and tell us your favorite George Harrison song (Beatles, solo or even Traveling Wilburys) by Friday. The winner will be chosen at random, so good luck.

Oh, and if you can’t name one of Georgie’s songs, or yer some who “never wins,” just pre-order the DVD, CD or box set.

The Naked & Famous had a breakout year in 2011 with their Passive Me, Aggressive You release. Their mixture of electronic synths and poppy hooks were hard to resist. For two of our lucky readers, we have a signed picture vinyl copy and a 7″ for Young Blood b/c the song Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No! to another. Two people will be chosen, one getting the signed picture vinyl, the other getting the 7″. All you have to do to win is follow @myoldkyblog on Twitter and tweet us why you should be chosen for one of the prizes by Friday. We will choose the winner shortly thereafter.

We are pretty stoked about this contest. For the past few months, Denison Witmer has been doing personal online performances via Skype for his fans to have the ability to perform without having to go on the road. Denison explains why the idea came about:

My wife and I are expecting our first child this December We can’t wait! Part of getting to know him/her means that I won’t be touring anymore this fall or early spring. However, I still want to stay active with my fans and play music, so I came up with this “Holiday / Baby On The Way tour 2011.

Normally, these cost $25 a pop, but to celebrate the release of his new album, The Ones Who Wait, MOKB has the opportunity to give away two of these performances to a couple of our loyal readers. In order to enter, just tweet the post with #DenisonWitmer and #MOKB. We will choose two winners at random on Friday, March 9th.

The Ones Who Wait is due out Tuesday through Asthmatic Kitty. Denison will resume normal touring beginning this week and we have those dates for you below.

MOKB has plenty of love for Asobi Seksu – we’ve premiered songs and booked them for SXSW parties of yore. If you haven’t checked out their layered gauzy goodness, feast your eyes on their latest video.

Currently on a mini-tour of the midwest, we have one pair of tickets to giveaway for their first show of 2012, courtesy of the fine folks at Polyvinyl. Just tell us your favorite Asobi Seksu song in the comments and we’ll randomly choose a lucky winner for the two tickets at The Bishop in Bloomington, IN by Friday 1/27/12.

It’s a good time to be a Dawes fan living in the vicinity of the Twin Cities. Of course, MOKB has been pimping the Laurel Canyon lads for ages, and we’ve joined forces with our pals at The Electric Fetus and KCMP (aka The Current) to present a very special (read: VIP) Dawes “Forum Session.”

On Friday, November 4th, the band will be performing live at The Current, and MOKB has procured two pairs of tickets. That’s right kiddies, four of you will attend this exclusive taping, and have a little meet and greet action with the band. Sounds a lot better than spending the afternoon stuck in the office, no? So, bring on the fine print!

Dawes Forum Session Giveaway: Thanks to our buds at The Current, MOKB has two (2) pairs of passes for you to attend an exclusive performance and interview with Dawes – hosted by Bill DeVille. It’s in the UBS Forum on November 4th. Winners receive 2 guest list spots available at the door on Friday, November 4th. Winners need to arrive at MPR Headquarters (480 Cedar STREET in St. Paul) by 1:00 PM. The performance begins at 1:30 PM SHARP, and should last about 30-45 minutes. Bring an ID to verify identity. All Ages. If you’d like to get registered to win, leave your email address in the Comments section. A winner will be chosen next Wednesday.

Even though MOKB is based out of Indianapolis, we still got love for our friends and former Statesmen down South. We were just in town last weekend and caught a great show with Ben Sollee and Vandaveer. While there, we got to catch up with our hometown pals over at Production Simple and Headliners. They’ve offered up two pairs of tickets, for a couple lucky winners, to see The Black Angels with Dead Meadow and Spindriff this Friday at 9pm.

This is an 18 and older show with doors opening at 8pm. If you want some free entertainment this Friday, just leave a comment below with your favorite album this year.

Brooklyn’s Caveman have been locked on MOKB’s radar after getting our hands on some loose tracks floating around the internet. The band’s profile has grown substantially over the past year while supporting Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, White Rabbits, and Here We Go Magic, to name a few. The band recently unleashed their fantastic debut album, CoCo Beware, into the world this past month. Words such as hazy, breezy, delicate are all appropriate adjectives in describing their sound. The album and its mood take on different meanings and feel like the changing of the seasons. Feelings of nostalgia and bliss change to reflection and introversion like summer to fall. The vocal stylings and harmonies are very similar to contemporaries like Local Natives, but in a much more subdued atmospheric manner. Cross that with a musical sound not that different from the previously mentioned Here We Go Magic. It is a fantastic debut that is worth your attention.

So, with all that being said, we are excited to have been given a very limited test-press vinyl of CoCo Beware to offer up to one of our loyal readers.

To enter, all you need to do is let us know what new band you think is set to go from indie buzz band to garnering a larger audience and selling out theaters in the coming years. We will select a winner this coming Friday.

Coco Beware is available digitally right now and physically will be released 11/15 through Magic Man! Records. You can pre-order the album on gold vinyl and CD here.